Senate Vows To Publish Names Of MDAs Who Failed To Appear Before Committee

The Senate has threatened to publish the names of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies who failed to appear before its public accounts committee to defend queries issued by the Auditor-General of the Federation.

Senate President Ahmed Lawan issued the threat on Wednesday after the Chairman of the public accounts committee submitted the annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation on the accounts of the federation for the year ended 31st December 2015.

According to the report, the agencies which did not respond to the committee are the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria Police Force, Federal Fire Service, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, Ministry of Police Affairs and Federal Ministry of Information.

Some of the infractions in the report observed by the committee include withdrawal of funds from the executive from special fund accounts for purposes other than the objectives for which the funds were created, the prevalence of unwholesome financial practices by some principal revenue-generating agencies, deliberate delay in the submission of financial transcripts by the Accountant General of the Federation to the Auditor-General of the Federation and habitual late or non-submission of financial reports to the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation by MDA’s.